Work with derived metrics

You define new metrics (referred to as derived metrics) and edit existing metric definitions using the Metric Editor.

For more information about metrics than is provided in this section and in Query Language Syntax, see the Metric, Dimensions, and Filters Guide.

Create a derived metric

You use a Metric Editor to define a new metric by name, formula, and format, which is saved to the User*profile_name*\Metrics folder for later use.

1. Open a new Metric Editor using the Admin > Profile menu option or by right-clicking the User column for the folder in which you want to create the metric and clicking Create > New Metric.

   A Metric Editor displays.

2. In the Name parameter, type a name for the new metric.

   Note that spaces ( ) are allowed while underscores (_) are not. In addition, you cannot use the following symbols:

   + - * /

   

3. In the Formula parameter, type an expression for the new metric. Note that filters must be defined within brackets [ ] in the expression.

   For additional metric expression syntax rules, see Syntax for Metric Expressions.

   The following table provides sample expressions for extended metrics.

   Extended Metric Name	Expression
   Percent First Sessions	Sessions [Session_Number="1"]/Sessions
   Conversion First Sessions	Conversion [Session_Number="1"]
   Average Value Per Visitor	Value/Visitors

   NOTE

   When an appropriate expression is entered, the preview line displays the value of the new metric. If there is an error in the expression, the preview line displays an error message.

4. Right-click (New) and click Save.

   When you save the metric, a file representing the new metric is created on your computer in the Data Workbench Installation directory \User*profile name*\Metrics folder.

   

You now can use the new metric throughout the current profile by selecting it as you would any built-in metric. To change the order in which your metrics appear on the metrics menu, see Customizing Menus Using Order.txt Files.

If you would like all users of the profile to use the metric that you created, you must publish it to the working profile using the Profile Manager. See Publishing Files to Your Working Profile.

Edit a derived metrics

1. In the Profile Manager or Metrics Manager, in the profile name column, right-click the check mark for the metric file that you want to edit, then click Make Local.

2. Right-click the check mark for the metric file in the User column and click Open > from the workbench.

   NOTE

   You also can open a Metric Editor by right-clicking any metric-related area within a visualization to display the metric menu. For more information, see Working with Metric and Dimension Menus.

3. In the Metric Editor, edit and save the metric definition as necessary using Steps 2-4 in Creating New Derived Metrics.

   If you would like all users of the profile to use the metric that you edited, you must publish it to the working profile using the Profile Manager. See Publishing Files to Your Working Profile.